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Curtiss Zeus Unveiled at Quail Motorcycle Gathering

After revealing its Warhawk, which picks up from designs originated by Confederate Motorcycles (a brand identity abandoned for obvious reasons), Curtiss Motorcycles unveiled at the recent Quail Motorcycle Gathering in Carmel a monstrously powerful concept called the Zeus. Powered by twin electric motors, the Zeus claims to make in the neighborhood of 170 hp and 290 foot/pounds of torque!

Attempting to “redesign the American motorcycle”, Curtiss felt free to design the Zeus from scratch with no preconceptions of what a motorcycle should look like. The machined billet chassis incorporates unusual suspension along with the massively powerful electric motors.

Curtiss says that its founder, Glenn Curtiss, invented the v-twin motorcycle in 1903. The Zeus concept is expected to reach production in 2019 (as a 2020 model), and is purportedly one of several Curtiss models currently under development.

At the Carmel event, the Zeus was awarded the “Most Innovative Motorcycle” prize from a panel of judges that included industry icon Craig Vetter. Let us know what you think of the Zeus.

This is a joke, right? I mean, it’s ugly, expensive, ugly, poorly designed, and ugly. There are some electric bikes on the market I’d be happy to try out, despite concerns over range. I’m not so desperate for attention that I’d want to ride this thing.

You know how really beautiful designs look like they are going a hundred miles per hour even while parked……? Yeah, this doesn’t.

Have any of you guys ever seen a Rokon? Well this is a Rokon dressed up for the inter-galactic prom dance.

I do like the way they posed the photo of it in the weeds. Which is probably where it belongs. Cause the designers are certainly out in the weeds when it comes to sculpting a motorcycle. Serious, what are they smoking at Curtiss….?

Another dysfunctional circle-jerk motorcycle creation from legends in their own minds.
I am quite sure there is a reason beyond reproach as to why a fundamentally flawed chain angle & rear suspension pivot point is being used as well as for the small front brake rotors. But it’s more interesting than a toaster oven as far as appliances go.

In regards to that chain & rear suspension pivot, it appears that the drive motor(s) are concentric with them. To lower the pivot would be lowering the motors(s), and the only way to do that is to move part of the battery pack to a location above the motors (rather than below, as currently). That, I’m sure, would raise the CoG through the roof – batteries aren’t light.

I agree that the swingarm pivot and drive sprockets appear to be concentric, so no chain slack issues.
HOWEVER, with that swingarm angle, I’m willing to bet that the rear suspension is locked solidly at full extension while under power.

It appears to have the four disc brake system with two discs on each side of the wheel, and a brake pad between them as well as on the outsides. This gives much more braking power than you would get from only two small discs.

It’s a little Raymond Loewy but with confused lines and shapes. Loewy actually created harmonized designs. The swing arm angle doesn’t make any sense from a visual design perspective. Neither does the random collection of round and rectangular shapes. The seat is streamlined but the front suspension is not. The fins on various parts are going different directions. And why is the box in the middle so big? Do the batteries really need to be that large? I find it confused and it looks like another example of a CNC machine with nothing better to do.

I’ll agree with this. The front suspension and the forward chassis / battery system have a real “22nd Century BMW Boxer” feel to them, but then it all goes ‘Boom!’ with no balancing construct behind it (and ‘behind’ is a double-entente, as that “seat” won’t have a “behind” on there for long!!).

Almost guys, almost. Your industrial design is awesome but you need a automotive / vehicle designer-stylist in your group to finish off the concepts.

Zeus claims to make in the neighborhood of 170 hp and 290 foot/pounds of torque! Look for rider ejections from the 6 o’clock position. Not much to hold onto at those power levels. With those smooth sides and seat it’s all on your hands to stay in place, talk about an arm stretcher.

It doesn’t look like a production bike, more of a design study. It also, IMO, looks a little too chunky in the engine bay area and too light at the handle bars. It has incredible power, more than can be used on the street, and the use of a billet frame is impressive.

So, is this going to be a trials bike? Because I don’t see a seat anywhere.

Seriously though, I understand the desire to customize. I understand the desire to experiment and prototype. I understand concept bikes. Really, I do. What I DON’T understand is why in each of these cases, the designers forget, ignore or sometimes even show genuine contempt for the idea that motorcycles are meant to be ridden by actual humans.

WHOA! Who are these folks and how pretentious can you get. I went to the site and saw the Warhawk powered by “petrol” and then the Zeus also titled the hot rod god and then there is the woody guthrie music and the grainy simple folk of the soil talking about the future being green and the dedication to Glen Curtiss who had nothing to do with this collage of futuristic retrocrap. Where are the laser headlights to cut thru the darkness, a halo generator to create a bubble of clean air around the rider, a holographic globe on the dash to tell you where in the world you are, a resonator that produces sympathetic vibrations thru the bike at your contact points to both stimulate and relax the meridians in your body and increase and balance your chi and a broadcast system that plays your favorite tunes with your voice doing the lead vocals and voice command blue tooth so you can order dinner, do business and assure police that you are not the dope they are looking for…